If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Please note that posts from new users are now moderated. If you have just joined this forum and post a new message it will be held in the moderation queue until a member of staff approves it. Please be patient and our staff will review your submission as soon as possible.

Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary: It will be worth your while to come to the meetingLongman Dictionary of Contemporary English: be worth somebody's while (to do/doing something) Murphy: -

The question is whether we can say: “It will be worth while to come to the meeting”?

My textbook says it is possible, but I am skeptical.

Michael

It is, though many speakers would prefer the gerund, and feel that, in that case, the "while" is redundant: 'It is worth coming to the meeting' (after all if it's "worth your while to come to the meeting" it is "worth coming", and the "worth your while" only adds something if there's contrastive stress: 'It's worth your while to go to the meeting, but there's no point in my going').

In use as an attributive adjective the words are often joined: 'this is a worthwhile enterprise'.